CORPORATE HISTORY

Jack Bendror, President of the Company, interrupted his study of engineering at Michigan State University and returned to Israel, his native land, to fight in the 1948 war of independence. He returned to the USA in 1952 and continued his studies at New York University where he obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in mechanical engineering. He worked as an engineer at Printing Industries Equipment, Inc. (P.I.E.), where, under the guidance of Leo Robbins who was a consultant to the firm, he designed the first self-adjusting Rounding and Backing Machine. This machine was the first major advance in library binding technology since the introduction of the Oversewing Machine in 1920. In 1957 his design won him first prize in a competition sponsored by the prestigious journal “Applied Hydraulics” (now “Hydraulics & Pneumatics”).

Following the sale of P.I.E., Jack Bendror found himself looking for employment. It was at the height of the Korean War effort and most jobs were classified and Jack Bendror, not being a U.S. citizen at the time, found it difficult to obtain employment. For a year and a half Jack did freelance work. In 1958, with encouragement from his wife Gloria, J. Howard Atkins, president of the F. J. Barnard Company and owner of the Oversewing Machine Company of American (OMCOA), and Dudley A. Weiss, Executive Director of the Library Binding Institute, Jack decided to take the leap and risk going into business for himself. He invited Leo Robbins to join him in partnership. In October of 1958, they formed Robbins & Bendror Associates, Inc. In 1959, they formed Precision Machine Shops, Inc. a facility to manufacture their products and in 1960 they formed Mekatronics, Inc., which dealt primarily in the design and supply of electro-mechanical systems.

Leo and Jack worked together for eight years until Leo died in 1966. Jack has managed the companies alone since then. In 1977, he merged his assets under the umbrella of Mekatronics and consolidated manufacturing and sales under one roof. In 1982, Jack purchased The Oversewing Machine Company of America and in 1983 he purchased the Printing Industries Equipment Company.

Since the 1950s, and still ongoing today, an amazing stream of new automated machines from Mekatronics has revolutionized the library binding industry in the United States, Canada, and worldwide.